BNSF Railway Co. announced its 2019 capital investment plan of $3.57 billion.

The maintenance component of this year’s plan totals roughly $2.47 billion. Projects include replacing and upgrading rail as well as track infrastructure like ballast and rail ties (which are the main components for the tracks on which BNSF trains operate) and maintaining its rolling stock.

The 2019 plan will include around 12,000 miles of track surfacing and/or undercutting work and the replacement of 535 miles of rail and nearly 2.3 million rail ties.

In an undated photo, crews work on a double-track project near Vaugh, New Mexico. Source: BNSFApproximately $760 million of this year’s capital plan has been allocated for expansion and efficiency projects. Most of the expansion projects are planned on the Northern and Southern Transcon routes, connecting Southern California with Chicago and the Pacific Northwest to Upper Midwest respectively. About $340 million of this year’s capital plan is for freight cars, locomotives and other equipment acquisitions.

The Southern Transcon is the primary route for BNSF’s intermodal business. The railroad spent more than $1 billion on the route in 2018.

The railroad said it will spend around $405 million on projects in Texas, much of it allocated for expansion projects. Plans call for adding a new double track between the Alliance Intermodal Facility in Fort Worth and Cleburne and two new siding projects on the Madill Subdivision north of Dallas. Centralized traffic control will also be installed along the same stretch of the Madill Subdivision.

At the railroad's Eagle Pass Border Gateway, new staging tracks are planned to handle growth into Mexico. A multi-year facility expansion project is slated for the Alliance Intermodal Facility, which includes the construction of new production tracks and incremental parking stalls as well as acquiring lift equipment.

This year’s $245 million capital program in California includes several scheduled maintenance and capacity expansion projects. The 2019 maintenance program in California includes more than 600 miles of track surfacing and/or undercutting work as well as replacing around 35 miles of rail and close to 70,000 ties.

In New Mexico, meanwhile, the railroad plans to spend around $80 million on maintenance projects. Projects include more than 850 miles of track surfacing and/or undercutting work as well as replacing around 20 miles of rail and more than 200,000 ties.

On the Clovis Subdivision in Belen, New Mexico, BNSF will begin a project to extend its quadruple main tracks to enhance capacity along the Southern Transcon route.